Seattle Schools Community Forum

 In a huge surprise, Director Vivian Song and Director Lisa Rivera jointly resigned on Song's Facebook page today. (Thank you to reader Julie for this early warning.) In its entirety: It has been a tremendous honor to serve the students, families and staff of Seattle Public Schools, as well as all the people of Seattle, who elected us to these roles in city-wide elections. So, it is with great regret that we feel compelled to submit our resignations as School Board Directors, effective Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. We have both experienced significant changes to our family situations, which have prompted both of us to move outside the boundaries of our internal director districts. Separations happen. Divorce happens. Sometimes the rules simply don’t reflect the realities of modern family life, and should certainly never be exploited in the media while plans are made and laws interpreted to determine the right path for Seattle Public Schools and the public trust. In recent years, our b...

I have a rule about anonymous comments that has been in play for years.  It is - NO ANONYMOUS COMMENTS. It simply is not that hard to give yourself a name/moniker.  I let it slide sometimes if I think a comment is worthy but I'm tired of pointing this out and asking, "Please no anonymous comments." If you don't see your comment, go check and see if you put a name to. If not, then there's your answer.

There are four bills in the Washington State Legislature this session around charter school funding.  Not only will charter schools receive more dollars from the state, if charter schools in Seattle start accessing both operations levies AND capital levies, you will see a direct hit to SPS. That budget deficit will only get larger if these bills pass.   These bills will make the above happen. I am begging you to contact to your senator and house representative NOW. Here's how: There are 4 bills in the legislature about charter school funding. Each Senate bill is linked to an accompanying House bill. The bills are: SB5809 - HB1418 SB5442 - HB1897 I beg you to contact your legislators and tell them to oppose these bills.  - Here's a very easy link at the Washington State Legislature site that allows you to find your district if you don't know who your reps are.  - An  link to the House representatives . - An link to the Senate.   Here's a synopsis of ...

 Very sad news that Mobarak S. Adam, a 15-year male student at Chief Sealth International High School was shot and died of his wound at the Southwest Pool/Teen Life Center on Tuesday afternoon. The manner of death from the gunshot - homicide, suicide, accidental - is still pending due to the ongoing investigation. Superintendent Brent Jones issued this statement: Like many of you, I am deeply saddened by the loss of this young member of our community. Our central office and school teams are working tirelessly to offer support to the grieving family and the affected school communities. We are collaborating with city officials to coordinate and share resources. Multiple agencies are joining forces to react and respond to this tragedy. Although there is no known threat to our schools due to this event, the Seattle Police Department will have additional patrols around the Chief Sealth and Denny campuses. The Seattle School Board and I remain committed to creating welcoming...

This is a very difficult topic because, as seen by the public testimony at the last Seattle School Board meeting, emotions are running high.  The Seattle School Board made a commitment to Black Lives Matter in Schools via a resolution in 2017, after the first BLM in Schools day in 2016 started at John Muir Elementary.  Nearly every year since then - 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021  - the Board has put out this same resolution.  They didn't in 2021-2022 probably because the schools were closed because of the pandemic. Why they didn't in 2022-2023, I don't know but it's not in their list of resolutions passed that year at the SPS website.  Here's an educator guide to BLM in Schools week developed by several departments/groups in Seattle Public Schools. Here's a very complete guide/list including lessons and resources from the D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice. But now we come to school year 2023-2024. Per the recent Board testimony, it appears that there i...

  Update 1: Two items. One, the Seattle Times seems to be testing the pot-stirring waters with this article today, The Seattle School Board rule that nobody seems to want to enforce. They impart almost nothing new and the headline is a bit off - it's also a law which is more important. Problem is, WHO is the enforcer?  King County Elections also deflected responsibility, saying the office’s role is limited to checking if a candidate is eligible to run when they file in May. That’s when staffers check voter registration records. After that, they are “not responsible for monitoring ongoing eligibility and don’t have any authority to get involved,” said Halei Watkins, the communications manager for the office. Also in the article,  So now it’s up to Song to decide what to do. On Friday, Song declined to comment. My impression is Song is not going to do or say anything. Seattle needs geographic requirements for its board members because it is a segregated city, Rankin sa...

Update 2 via Crosscut : Crosscut had a wrap-up story on the pick for D8 on the Seattle City Council. In that story was this: Labor backed Seattle Public Schools board member Vivian Song, who was elected to that position in 2021. The MLK Labor Council, which represents more than 150 unions in King County, and Seattle Building Trades, an influential political force, also came out in support of Song. Mosqueda, whose seat Woo now fills, was a progressive Democrat and staunch labor ally. Song told Crosscut that she’s been overwhelmed by the support she’s received during the appointment process, and is considering running for the position in November. Here's where everyone should put their foot down, whether you like Song's work on the Seattle School Board or not. Yes, serving on the Board is a labor of love because it's not for the money nor has it been a stepping stone to higher office. I'll certainly allow that thought. But it is NOT a waiting room until something...

 Hmmm, in a good way From the Seattle Times: Dick’s Drive-In will charge only 19 cents for a burger over the next three days i n honor of the beloved local chain’s 70 th anniversary. You can expect long lines for the deal, which takes place for one day only at the nine Dick’s outlets in Western Washington. Customers can score one 19-cent hamburger or cheeseburger on Tuesday at the Wallingford, Broadway and Lake City Dick’s in Seattle; on Wednesday in Federal Way, at the Crossroads in Bellevue and at the Crown Hill location on Holman Road in Seattle; and on Thursday at the Edmonds, Kent and Queen Anne locations.    From SPS Communications: Every year, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Distinguished Schools Awards recognize schools that bridge educational gaps. For the 2022–23 school year, Seattle’s Maple Elementary has earned recognition as a State Distinguished School for its exceptional student performance and academic growth.  ...

The Seattle City Council had a public meeting this morning where community groups could weigh in the who should fill former CM Teresa Mosqueda's seat. The Council is likely to announce their pick on Tuesday, Jan. 23rd. The Stranger's Hannah Krieg was there and I pulled her most interesting tweets on the speakers. One said that, somehow, Council President Sara Nelson managed to go past Board Director Vivian Song as candidates were introducing themselves.  Krieg says, “ Union workers and educators came out to support Song. She seems to be the nominee who comes closest to filling Council Member Teresa Mosqueda's big progressive shoes.” “But don't count out Mari Sugiyama!! She's got a lot of supporters from Seattle's Asian American community.” I would think it would be very difficult for the Seattle Asian community with several great candidates in the mix.  Also, a group called "Concerned Citizens 4 Good Governance " has launched a peition campaign, callin...

 DHH means Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

This is long but I think it's important to report out what was actually said at Seattle School Board meetings. Unlike the manner in which minutes are currently written. To help you skip to the important and/or noteworthy item, I put them in red text. (This took me hours to do but you may need the exact wording in order to fight some of these conclusions especially around school consolidations and closures. I also apologize for any misspellings or grammatical errors; I was going cross-eyed trying to repeatedly proofread this post.) I note that Director Lisa Rivera was present remotely.  Also, I never noticed that the district turns off comments on their meetings on YouTube. I guess they wouldn't like what some viewers might say. The meeting ran 4+ hours. Superintendent Brent Jones stopped to honor Martin Luther King, Jr.  He stated that he thought that some of the speakers on the Speaker List looked like they would be talking about justice and equality in learning which aligns ...

A quick follow-up on the story about Director Vivian Song's apparent violation of the RCW about school directors, their districts and elections.  To be clear, I'm no lawyer but I DID consult one who said, "The RCW is pretty clear. " It would appear that legally, Song should have announced her move from one district area to another district area and then the district would have added that region to the November 2023 election. After the election, she would have then stepped down.  I also think that it was unethical for Song to not tell the parents and voters of Seattle about her move. It was no crime to move but her not telling people stinks.  I will add that I like Director Song and think she's clearly the smartest person on the Board.   Also, when Song first ran, the districts were configured differently. Due to population changes, the director districts were redrawn about a year ago. Ballard was part of D4 at the time Song ran. ( This article in the Times has...

 Update 2: given all these mystery about Song's address, maybe we should examine every director's address just to be sure.   Update: Not good. From the Seattle Times : Seattle City Council candidate has residency conflict in School Board role  They don't call political operative Tim Ceis "the Shark" for nothing. He (or someone else) did a dive into Director Vivian Song's address and uncovered a mess. Sadly, it's of her doing and somewhat of SPS'. When she first ran, there was talk about if she really lived in her district. She did at one point. She since moved to Capitol Hill. This isn't necessarily a dealbreaker but there is Board policy AND RCW law to consider. It gets a bit cloudy and dicey from there. She moved back to Capitol Hill in 2022. She said it was a “gradual process” but she notified Seattle Public Schools and updated her voter registration in March, then consulted the district, which said she could lawfully keep serving.  Great tha...